


Can't Stop Thinking About You (You're Too Purrfect)

by Fluffypanda



Series: Magic and Rejection [1]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Animal Transformation, BAMF Tony Stark, Fluff, Humor, Loki Feels, M/M, One-sided Loki/Tony Stark - Freeform, Pining, Protective Steve Rogers, Tony Stark Feels, even if Tony doesn't admit it
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-08
Updated: 2016-04-24
Packaged: 2018-06-01 00:21:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 17
Words: 18,078
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6493582
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fluffypanda/pseuds/Fluffypanda
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tony finds out why using the excuse that he's not into dudes to reject the God of Mischief is a bad idea. Or He really learns that he should be more careful with his words. He also might realize how much he thinks about Steve. Maybe. There is a river in Egypt Tony is still quite familiar with.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Whiskers On Kittens (A Few Of My Favorite Things)](https://archiveofourown.org/works/903686) by [reona32](https://archiveofourown.org/users/reona32/pseuds/reona32). 



> So I never really expected to post anything on this site, but here I am doing it anyway. This is my first fanfic ever, so please be kind. Constructive criticism is fine though. Also this is almost completely unedited so if you notice I slipped into present tense at any point, feel free to let me know. I think I caught everything, but it's a reoccurring issue.

Iron Man pulled himself from the ground and raised his gauntlets at Loki. Loki cornered him with a brutal smile on his face after knocking him out of the sky some distance from the rest of the team. Loki’s literal flying monkeys swarmed the rest of the Avengers. Tony was able to see Captain America bashing them with his shield. He couldn’t help but wonder if this was brought on by a viewing of The Wizard of Oz.

“Stop where you are, Wicked Witch of the West!” Tony said amidst a slew of damage reports from the HUD. Armor integrity was compromised; Loki could easily puncture it with his spear. It looked like he won’t be flying off either; the repulsors in his boots were severely damaged. 

Loki laughed at this. Who knew which bit he found funny, Tony’s nickname or his weak show of power. He hoped it isn’t his poorly hidden fear. Tony wasn’t sure he wanted to find out. Surely having insight to the mind of a mad god wouldn’t do him any favors. Besides Tony had a suspicion the answer would hurt his pride. 

Just as Tony reluctantly acknowledged the sinking feeling he is getting, Loki suddenly ceased his laughter and closed the distance between them. Tony jerked back and tried to fire his repulsors, but it was too late. Loki was very very close. Tony was about to take measures to remove Loki from his personal space when his armor disintegrated around him. Loki then grabbed his arm. Tony felt an indescribable sensation as his surroundings abruptly changed. 

Tony found himself in a lavish penthouse apartment, on par with just about any he’s stayed in, with Loki still gripping his arm. He started struggling, but Loki just looked unamused as Tony attempted to twist out of his hold. Loki smoothly said, “Relax, Stark. I simply wished to speak with you uninterrupted.”

Tony stared as Loki released his arm and gave him a halfway normal smile. It made Loki look less crazy, but Tony was still terrified. He struggled to put up his mask of confidence and when he finally managed, he said, “What? All this for a chat with little old me? You could have just called.” Tony’s smile was as faultless as any he’s given the press now that he’s gotten his panic under control. He started casually looking for escape routes. He didn’t think Steve or any other of the Avengers were going to get here any time soon even though Tony could clearly see that he was still in New York from the window. 

Loki’s smile took on a slightly different quality, one that Tony would almost call seductive if the subject wasn’t an unhinged Norse god. Loki sidled up to him and said, “Some questions must be posed directly.” Tony tried to take a step back only to realize he couldn’t move his feet. “I shall get straight to the heart of the matter; it is after all, a matter of the heart.” Loki continued. 

Tony kept up his cool façade, but internally he hoped his suspicions were wrong. Loki quickly proved those suspicions right when he said, “I find your ingenuity and sense of humor pleasing. I wish to put aside any animosity between us and start a romantic relationship with you.”

Tony stood there open mouthed for a second before thinking of the most obnoxious way possible to reject him. “Sorry Lokes. I’m just not into guys, I like pussy. Besides you’re too crazy for me.” Tony lied. He really hoped Loki didn’t research his preferences or notice the way he looks at Steve. 

Like many of his hopes that day, they were summarily crushed. 

“Do not presume to lie to the God of Lies, Stark! Any fool can see how you lust after the Captain. You didn’t think I’d fail to uncover your taste in bed partners before proposing this to you, did you!?” Loki shouted. He took a deep breath and seemed to regain some composure, but it was clear anger was just bubbling below the surface. “You say you like ‘pussy’, but you’ll soon lose your taste for that word and that patriotic fool as well.” Loki’s hands then started to glow green as he gathered magic around them. Tony tried to move away and was surprised to find his feet were no longer held in place. The spell hit him as he turned away to dive under a nearby table. He wished his team was here; he wished Steve was here. Once again Tony’s sensory input was jumbled as the spell took hold. His body felt simultaneously squished and stretched. The proportion of everything seemed larger, while colors seemed more faded. The traffic outside was shriller, he could hear the rumble of the central heating, and the sound of Loki’s breathing was disturbingly loud. 

"I was going to tell you that if you want to remain human, then you will forget your precious Captain America, but it seems you are already thinking of him." Loki pushed the table above Tony aside and grabbed him by the scruff of his neck. Tony instinctively went limp as he was lifted out of his too large t-shirt and jeans. Loki looked him in the eye and said, “It’ll wear off, but every thought of your teammate will turn you back into a helpless feline.” Tony wanted to scratch that satisfied smirk off his face. 

In fact that was the first thing he tried when Loki put him down. He couldn’t quite reach Loki’s face so Tony settled for the hand that just released him. He tried his utmost to bite and scratch every bit within his reach. The only thing he succeeded in doing was getting his claws stuck in Loki’s shirt sleeve. Loki sighed and proceeded to unhook Tony’s claws. “I am a god, Stark. The claws of a pitiful house pet from Midgard are hardly going to damage me.” 

Tony glared at Loki, but mentally conceded that he had a point. Tony took this opportunity to calm down. After Loki finished gently unhooking his claws and placing him on the floor, Tony tried to locate some cover. The best he could do was the couch. It was slightly humiliating cowering under the couch, but it’s better than having nothing between him and Loki. In the back of Tony’s mind he wondered how long it will take for Steve to come for him.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's a new chapter with minimal editing. Just a heads up, I don't intend to post more than one a day.

From underneath the couch, Tony watched as Loki picked up Tony’s abandoned clothes and placed them nowhere? Tony’s fur bristled at the sight of not only his clothes disappearing, but more importantly the Laws of Physics being stomped on. He tried to sooth himself with Sci-Fi like explanations of pocket dimensions and what not. This actually reminded him of a few books he thought he should recommend to Steve. He felt a bit better, but his tail swishing proved his lingering irritation. 

Loki turned to the couch and declared, “I will be going out now. I hope to see your human form once more when I return.” Just as soon as he finished speaking, Loki teleported away. 

Tony waited a few minutes before slinking out from beneath the couch. He hoped Loki didn’t leave to go fight the other Avengers. What if Loki seriously attacked Steve? It was clear he was jealous due to Tony’s inability to hide his small crush on Steve. What was up with Loki’s sudden interest in Tony anyway? Tony couldn’t think of any reason Loki would think of him that way. Sure, Tony had flirted a little, but he did that to just about everyone at least a little hot, it was practically his default setting. Now that Tony thought about it, Loki did seem to have staged more random, minor attacks lately. Could he have been trying to get Tony’s attention? Tony didn’t know what to think of this. 

Tony’s alarm deepened when he realized he had been grooming his sleek dark brown fur with his tongue the whole time he was pondering the issue. The power of animal instincts was frightening. Tony hadn’t even realized what he was doing until there was a break in his thoughts. 

Tony resolved to turn human again. Loki said he could if he forgot about Steve. He probably wasn’t lying about that. Tony hoped that just not thinking about Steve for a while would do. He doubted he could actually forget such sweet smiles and delicious muscles. The way he tried so hard to protect and care for everyone. The way he so earnestly apologized for misjudging Tony, not that Tony entirely agreed that the things said on the Helicarrier were a misjudgment. Tony couldn’t help but knead his paws on the carpet when he thought of Steve’s sarcastic quips. It was so cute when he let out his inner kid from Brooklyn. Tony didn’t get to see it that often; Steve frequently seemed weighted down by- 

Tony needed to stop thinking about Steve. He was really starting to think he had a problem, other than the obvious feline one. Why was he thinking about Steve that much? It was only a crush. A little of his boyhood worship mixed with their growing friendship to create a tiny crush. He didn’t normally think about Steve this much, did he? No, this was a very slight crush and the difficulties of not thinking about something (or someone) you tell yourself not to think about. 

Tony calmed himself and thought of science. Every thought of Steve he redirected towards upgrades for his armor, designs for the new Starkphone, and refined plans for promoting ARC reactor technology. He was definitely going to have to look into equipping something to dampen magic into his armor. This sort of oversight was unacceptable! He’d have to put his work on retroreflective panels for the suit on the back burner once again. 

After about ten minutes of concentrated science-ing, Tony felt a sudden shift. He was now seated on the floor, his bare skin sticking to the leather sofa, and very human. He looked down at his (very naked) self. He had done it! He had managed to clear his head of all thoughts of Ste-

Before that thought was even finished he had reverted to a cat. Tony wasn’t too upset; he wasn’t going to get it right the first time. That’s what science was about testing things out to figure out how they work. Tony now had some valuable data. 1) He could in fact turn back if he pointedly didn’t think of Steve. 2) It took about ten minutes of not thinking about him to turn back (more testing was required to be sure about the timing). 3) Thoughts of Steve were very quick to make him furry again.

Tony rather optimistically thought he was off to a good start. Hopefully he’d have it all under control by the time Steve and the team came for him. Once he was back with the Avengers, they’d be able to work something out to lift this curse. Steve wouldn’t give up until his teammate was safe. It was one of his best qualities. Tony sometimes needed Steve’s can-do attitude around to keep going. The Avengers really needed someone like that as team leader. Steve’s tactical genius helped too.

Tony was really starting to miss Steve – AND Bruce, Thor, Clint, and even Natasha. It’s not just Steve he cares about. He was just on Tony’s mind because of this curse. And his miniscule crush. Really though, who wouldn’t have a crush on Steve? He’s impossible not to like. Tony knows. He tried really hard in the early days. Eventually he stopped letting his own issues get in the way of their friendship. Bruce was a great friend for listening to him while he worked out his Steve-related issues. Well, if by listening you meant nodding off or getting distracted. It didn’t matter; it felt good to confide things to Bruce. Not that he ever said anything about his crush on Steve to him. That was just too embarrassing. His hero worship of Steve turning into something else as he hit puberty was the whole reason he knew he was bisexual. To still be carrying it around at this age was pathetic. 

Tony was still stewing in thoughts of Steve when Loki teleported back to the penthouse.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This fic is turning out to be a bit longer than intended, but writing is going fairly well. 
> 
> If anyone is wondering this fic breaks from canon just before Age of Ultron and assumes everyone is living together in the Tower.

Loki looked down at Tony with something close to disdain. “You can’t even keep your thoughts off of that brute of a man long enough to regain your humanity, Stark?”

Tony tried to reply that he did in fact manage it, but all that came out was meowing. His tail went haywire with irritation. 

“Unfortunately for you, even with Allspeak your words are lost. Either properly learn to speak cat or forget your captain if you want to be understood.” Loki replied grumpily. He gracefully sat down on the couch.

Tony wondered what Loki meant by learning to speak cat as he stalked off to hide behind a plant in the corner of the room. Steve would call it a tactical retreat. Perhaps Tony had to try to communicate more like a cat through body language. Before he had attempted to form words like he normally did, but obviously that wouldn’t work with a cat’s vocal cords and mouth. After a moment’s thought he decided there was no way to know what body language translated to what words even if that was how it worked. The only way to find out would be to practice with someone with Allspeak, but like hell was he going to do that with Loki. 

Tony heard the TV turn on. He listened as Loki flipped through the channels before landing on a newscaster reporting on the Avenger’s battle earlier in the day. They started showing some footage, but Tony couldn’t tell what was happening without being able to see. Even after he poked his head out from behind the plant his vision was too washed out and blurry to see what was happening on the TV. 

He crept closer until he could see the action. There was Steve bashing away at monkeys with the rest of the team. The camera quickly panned over to show the Iron Man armor disintegrating and Loki teleporting Loki away. Steve yelled something as he tried to push through the swarm of monkeys, but it was lost in their screeching. 

Tony watched as they wrapped up disposing of the monkeys when suddenly Loki appeared on screen again. He made all the monkeys vanish with a wave of his staff. Captain America shouted, “Hold it Loki! What have you done with Iron Man?” 

Loki cackled and said, “He is unharmed. However you’ll never find him!” and teleported away once again.

The newscaster started speaking again, “Official sources report that Iron Man has yet to be located, but have stated that is only a matter of time before he is found.” Tony didn’t care about the platitudes his PR department spouted in his disappearance; he wanted to know if the rest of the team was alright! Steve looked okay in the footage, but he couldn’t be certain that was the case. What if one of those monkeys bit him? What if it was venomous? 

Tony had to admit that was unlikely. Not impossible since these were flying monkeys that Loki conjured, but unlikely. Besides Steve was tough, it was Clint and Natasha he had to worry about in the event of a venomous monkey attack. Actually Tony couldn’t really imagine Natasha getting bitten by a monkey, so make that just Clint. 

Just then Tony felt something behind him as Loki reached his hand toward him. Tony had been too focused on the news report and his own thoughts to realize how close he had gotten to Loki. Tony froze as that had slowly stroked his back. Was Loki petting him? That was just weird. Tony stumbled away, shaking himself. He felt the strong urge to groom his fur. Luckily Loki didn’t get up to follow him. He only sat there forlornly with his hand out. Tony wondered what it would be like if Steve pet him. He bet that Steve would be good at it with his warm and gentle hands. 

Loki got up from the couch, and now that Tony was looking, he saw that at some point Loki had removed his armor, leaving only a green shirt and black leather pants. Even from the distance Tony retreated to Loki towered over him. Tony felt his ears go back. However Loki did nothing more threatening than walk past him to the kitchen. Tony relaxed a little as he heard Loki’s footsteps on kitchen tile. At least he didn’t seem to want to mess with Tony at the moment.

“I suppose since you don’t seem able to keep your thoughts from the good Captain, I’ll have to provide sustenance suitable for your feline form. It’s unfortunate that the meal I had prepared would be quite damaging to your current shape.” Loki actually sounded disappointed at that. Tony didn’t even realize Loki could cook. Tony wanted to say it probably had nothing on Steve’s home cooking, but his crush wasn’t so bad that he could call Steve’s food anything other than edible at best. If he could actually say anything, Tony probably would have joked about the food Loki was now setting in front of himself. It looked like a meal from a five star restaurant. It smelled strongly of wine, herbs, and beef. 

Before Loki sat down to enjoy his meal, he waved his hand and a bowl appeared on the floor near his feet. Tony cautiously went over to investigate. It was probably cat food, but he has eaten Steve’s cooking so Tony was willing to make some sacrifices in regards to his diet. Tony took a wary sniff. It didn’t smell appetizing, but Tony knew from his previous experiences with kidnapping that if you could be certain the food wasn’t drugged, it was best to eat it and keep up your strength. Tony was in the middle of debating the chances of Loki drugging his cat food when Loki spoke up.

“If you would only stop thinking of him, you wouldn’t have to lower yourself to eat on the floor like an animal.” Loki looked disinterested, like it didn’t matter to him. Tony wasn’t fooled, it was clear that it bothered Loki. Just to spite him Tony started eating from the bowl in front of him. Tony didn’t care at this point if the food was drugged. Loki clearly wasn’t going to do anything more and the Avengers would be here soon enough. It really wasn’t any worse than the meatloaf Steve insisted on making for team dinners every once in a while.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this chapter is a little short, but don't be too sad about that because there are some longer ones coming up. I'm pretty satisfied with how they are coming along. You might notice I added a total for the number of chapters. That's tentative at this point, but seems about right for what I have so far. 
> 
> On another note, I'd love to hear any theories, opinions, or constructive criticisms you have! I have this fic mostly plotted out but there is room to for other people's ideas if you want to share.

Tony was starting to think it would be better to break himself out. Tony waited after finishing dinner, wondering when Steve and the rest would rescue him. The whole night passed without the slightest disturbance. It was now well past dawn with no sign of the Avengers. Tony anxiously paced and groomed his fur in between cat naps. 

Tony was extremely aware of how vulnerable he was without the suit (or any clothes at all for that matter), and now he was also at risk of losing his thumbs with a stray thought. He didn’t want to risk a confrontation with Loki in this state. That’s why he decided to trust his team to find him. 

Tony felt conflicted about his willingness to sit and wait for help. On one hand he felt ashamed to be so reliant on others, on the other he was somewhat proud of himself for trusting his friends to be there for him. Tony knew he had issues with trust and was self-aware enough to realize that this was a big step for him. Between being coerced into independence from a young age and numerous betrayals, it wasn’t easy relying on others. Tony was getting increasingly twitchy. 

At this point it was clear that Loki must have done something to hold them up. He periodically left the apartment to do who knows what, coming back after a short while to stare at Tony. At one point his presence in the penthouse coincided with one of the rare moments Tony was human. Loki seemed delighted so Tony decided to risk asking for his clothes back. 

All Loki had to say to that was, “I have them no longer. You’ll have to do without.” This combined with the appreciative looks Loki was giving him made him decide he was better off covered in fur in front of Loki. It was the first time Tony purposefully thought of Steve to trigger a transformation. 

Tony didn’t completely waste the night jumping at shadows. He experimented with the curse. Further efforts to clear his mind showed it took anywhere from two to ten minutes of Steve-less thoughts to turn back. Once human again Tony found it difficult to stay that way. Tony told himself that it was just because he was made aware he wasn’t thinking about Steve which caused him to think about him again. 

Tony explored the penthouse while Loki was out. There was some sort of barrier around the doors and windows so he couldn’t get out, but he could see his tower and other landmarks in the morning sun which gave him a rough idea of where he was. He found some household chemicals underneath the sink and silverware in the kitchen drawers. The refrigerator and cabinets were fully stocked with food. The range and oven were electric, not gas which only disappointed Tony a little. Any explosions he could rig using a gas valve were likely to get him caught in it was well. Tony couldn’t find a tool box and while he could have improvised, Tony decided now was not a good time to dismantle any of the electronics as Loki could come back at any time. When Tony searched the bathroom he didn’t find much besides a few more cleaning supplies and a litterbox positioned in the corner. “He’s such a dick! I’ll pee in his shoes before I use a litterbox! It’s disgusting!” Tony grumbled to himself. Despite his angry complaints, he used the toilet before he left. 

As it happened Loki’s shoes weren’t even available to destroy. Very little in the apartment looked like it could have belonged to Loki. There were no clothes, no daggers, staffs or other weapons. There were no spell books, potions, enchanted jewelry, or magic circles. Admittedly Tony only imagined that those were the sort of things that could be found in Loki’s home, but nonetheless Loki seemed to have very little presence here. The only thing in the whole place that really screamed “Loki!” was tucked away in the bedroom. It was a huge, ornate bed decorated in green and gold. Tony tried not to dwell too much on why Loki would want such a huge bed when he clearly cared very little about what else furnished the penthouse. 

The most promising result of the search was a small vent placed near the ceiling in the corner of the room. Unlike the windows and doors, Tony could feel air flowing through. Tony wasn’t sure at what point in his investigation he turned human again; he must have been too bust cataloging his findings and thinking of their potential uses in an escape. Tony was about to go inspect the vent more closely now that he had the height to do it, when Loki teleported back in holding a paper bag. He smiled at Tony. 

“I brought breakfast, Anthony. Perhaps I could persuade you to join me for a bagel with Lox?” Loki said carefully. Tony looked at him standing there, seemingly fully prepared to get rejected. Tony was honestly still pretty pissed about the curse, but couldn’t help but feel the tiniest spark of empathy. Plus smoked salmon sounded pretty damn good right now. 

So as a peace offering Tony said, “Give me something to wear and we have a deal.” Loki’s nervous smile turned satisfied at this and Tony found himself wearing a tank top and boxer shorts. Tony wasn’t going to risk his bagel asking for something better.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm fairly proud of this chapter. If you have any questions about how this played out feel free to ask!

Tony is well known for running his mouth and doing everything to get the last word. He loves saying things just to piss people off. It’s fun and it gives him an advantage if they get angry or unbalanced because of his words. Knowing exactly what to say to enrage someone was a gift of Tony’s. What people didn’t seem to realize was that he also knew when not to piss people off. He wouldn’t have survived in the business world or the press, let alone through multiple kidnappings if he didn’t. Tony liked to push things, but he had a good sense of exactly how far he had to go to achieve his goals. Tony’s made mistakes with judging where that line was with Loki before. He pushed him too far too quickly in the battle of New York and got defenestrated for his troubles. Again, he hit more nerves than he intended to yesterday. 

So Tony kept his mouth shut during an uncomfortable breakfast with Loki. There were a lot of things he wanted to say and questions he wanted to ask, but he knew better than to spit them out without a better sense of where he stood with Loki. The silence was killing him though. Eventually he let an awkward “This is tasty” slip out. It was neutral enough. Loki might even take it as a compliment to his food procuring abilities. 

“It was a simple matter to locate the finest establishment in the city for this dish.” Well, Loki took that well enough. Tony took a closer look at the wax paper wrapped around his bagel. The fish design looked familiar, it was the one Russ & Daughters used. Something occurred to Tony.

“You googled it, didn’t you?” Tony asked suspiciously. 

Loki’s smile widened and took on a mischievous quality. “Did you think I could spend so long in your realm without learning something of how it worked?” He laughed as he pulled a smartphone out of thin air. 

“I bet you go on Instagram as well. And really? That’s what you are using?” Tony was a bit offended that Loki was using a two-bit competitor’s phone instead of one of his state of the art babies. His phones had the best battery life of any on the market and were nearly indestructible. Tony personally tested them, and any phone that could stand up to his life style was more than good enough for the public. Beta testers frequently complimented the UI’s intuitiveness. Okay, Tony was taking it really personally, but he thought Loki would know better than to get a sub-par phone.

Loki just laughed at him some more. At least he was in a good mood. “Are you put out to such a degree that I didn’t purchase one of your company’s devices, Anthony?” Tony noticed earlier that Loki had switched from calling him Stark to Anthony. Was this Loki trying to be friendly? Tony hadn’t been called Anthony since before high school and Tony was practically a BABY in high school. It felt weird, but Tony shrugged it off. 

“I just thought someone like you wouldn’t settle for anything less than the best on the market.” Tony affected disinterest. It didn’t bother him at all. Nope. 

“I do not possess a Starkphone because without taking precautions, you could easily track me with it.” Tony was surprised Loki knew about the facial recognition program that alerted JARVIS of the GPS coordinates of the phone if Loki or another listed criminal was caught on the camera. The camera automatically registered the user when the phone was turned on. It was a little bit illegal and very much a violation of privacy, but Tony made sure access to this information was limited to himself and JARVIS. 

Tony was impressed. “I always thought you were a smart one. Not many people know about that. How did you?” 

“I didn’t, but I surmised that any device connected to you could lead you to me.” Loki said with a smirk.

Damn. Tony had forgotten he was speaking to someone they call The Trickster. It was his very nature to trick and lie. He had been spending too much time around Steve, who was honest to a fault most days. That thought triggered another transformation. At least Tony had already finished his bagel. 

Tony was startled when Loki stood up in a rage, brought his hands down, and smashed the dining room table. Their glasses and the decorative fruit bowl were sent flying. Loki soon started shouting.

“YOU ARE SPEAKING TO ME! WHY MUST YOU THINK OF HIM!? IS HE THAT MUCH BETTER THAN ME!?” Tony skedaddled out of there as fast as he could. He didn’t want to see what else Loki would do in a fit of jealousy. Tony stopped in the corner of the doorway, when he heard Loki continue in a much quieter voice. “I had hoped you of all people would understand.” Loki was looking down at the broken table with his hands clenched at his sides. 

Loki looked up at him with such intensity that Tony jumped backward without thinking. He bumped into the side table behind him causing the lamp resting on it to tip over. Tony watched as spikey lamp shaped death rained down on him, then vanished. He looked over at Loki, who by his posture was clearly the source of the lamp of doom’s sudden disappearance. Loki just looked at him agitatedly and teleported away. 

Tony decided now was the time to escape. He focused on the details of the plan until he became a human again. He gathered the clothes he left behind, shaking bits of table off them. Rather than put them on, he tied them in a bundle around his neck. He removed the cover to the vent with one of the knives from the kitchen then sloshed some of the more flammable cleaning products from underneath the sink on the remains of the wooden dining room table. He dragged the microwave to the site of his would be bonfire and threw in a fork and a bag of popcorn for extra flammability. Before turning it on, he activated the sprinkler system. Most people were probably out of the building at their jobs, but he didn’t want anyone to get hurt, so he did that to give anyone left extra time to evacuate the building. 

Tony started the microwave. He heard it explode behind him as he ran to the vent. He hoped for Steve’s luck as he wriggled into the small opening, the opening he’d never fit into if he were human. He looked behind him, at the dining room ablaze, before dragging his bundle of clothes down the vent with him. 

Tony had made it to grate in the apartment below the penthouse when he noticed the vents were starting to fill with smoke. He was trying to push it loose, but just wasn’t having any luck. That’s what he got for wishing for Steve’s luck, because now that Tony thought about it, Steve’s luck wasn’t really much better than Tony’s. 

All Tony could do at that point was wait for the firefighters to check this apartment. If he can get their attention then they’ll be able to get him out. He had hoped it wouldn’t come to that. It would be nice if Steve were here. Steve would make a good firefighter. Steve would definitely make sure there weren’t any cats left in a burning building. Tony could picture Steve as a firefighter, carrying Tony the cat out of the blaze. The soot on his face just made his eyes look that much bluer. And Tony was absolutely only thinking this much about Steve because he didn’t want to turn back in a space too small for him. Tony was sure it wouldn’t be pretty. Unlike Steve, who was very pretty. Not that Tony could say that to his face. 

Tony’s thoughts continued like that until he heard the firefighters burst into the apartment. The smoke left Tony feeling weak, but he did his best to yowl and make racket. He stuck his paw out of the slots in the grate in the hopes they would see it. Sure enough, they spotted him and pried the vent cover off.


	6. Loki’s Interlude

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, Loki is really hard to write. His character leaves a lot up for interpretation as far as his intentions go, partially because he isn't entirely sane, partially because he is THE lying trickster. He's also a god, so it wouldn't be right to write him too human, but it also wouldn't be right to totally ignore his humanity. I tried to find a balance in this special chapter. Let me know what you think.

Loki hadn’t intended for things to get so out of hand. 

Loki left Asgard following, not the discovery of his deception, but the realization that ruling in Odin’s place did not yield the adoration Loki wanted. Thor was joyfully wasting his time in Midgard so it seemed appropriate to go cause some Mischief. Loki still journeyed between the nine realms, but Midgard seemed to have a hold on him. At first Loki thought it was due to Thor’s delightful reactions to his tricks, but he soon recognized that it was because Midgard embraced chaos like no other realm. As God of Mischief, Chaos, and Fire Loki felt drawn to places and people that possess those elements. 

This brought him to The Iron Man: Anthony Edward Stark. During his first rather unfortunate battle with the Avengers, Stark, while clever, didn’t have much worth to Loki beyond the use of his tower. Loki’s return to Midgard revealed to him some of Stark’s worthwhile qualities. To start with, the man was surrounded by chaos, more so than any other Avenger, it was sewn into the very fabric of his life. As a smith of sorts, Stark worked with fire with familiarity, and always carried a spark of it within his soul. Loki sensed this and found it irresistible. Above of all of this was Stark’s intelligence, which urged him to mischief and jokes. Loki could appreciate someone who used their wit to insult and defeat their foes.

Loki was intrigued enough to investigate further. He found out everything known to the public and more. What he saw made him realize he had more in common with Anthony than he thought possible. The press was just as vicious to Anthony as the royal court of Asgard was to Loki. Both of them were in a position of privilege, but were set apart from their peers. Anthony knew what it was like to be compared to someone, to never live up to expectations. He knew what it was like to be betrayed. 

When he decided to court Anthony, he knew it wouldn’t be easy. He had elected to forgo the Asgardian approach and make his case directly. He knew Anthony wouldn’t agree right away, but he should have known better than to lose his temper. Now he wondered if he should have been patient and bore through the long months of gift giving.

He had hoped that failing an acceptance of his suit, he could at least convince Anthony to enjoy a meal he prepared himself. Thanks to his impulsiveness, Loki lost his chance to win him over with words. With any luck, Loki’s poorly thought out curse would drive all thought of his rival for Anthony’s affections out of his mind. 

Once the curse was cast, Loki decided he needed to buy some more time. He teleported back to the Avengers to draw them away from New York. Loki’s first stop was Prague. He created a facsimile of Anthony with a scrap of his garments and led it to an empty dwelling, making sure to be caught on some of the security cameras in the city. He repeated this process twice more in Johannesburg and Dubai, leaving a few hours between appearances. 

Loki took out the so called “smartphone” he had procured while living in this realm. If he wanted to make any progress with Anthony he needed to show him his good will. Once he scried an appropriate peace offering, he cast a glamour to move among the masses of Midgard. Loki obtained his bribe with ease. 

Upon returning to the penthouse where he hid Anthony away, Loki was pleased to find him in human form. Perhaps Anthony’s affections for the Captain weren’t so strong. His fortunes seemed to continue in to breakfast as Anthony did not refuse to join him and even started to converse with Loki.

It wasn’t long into their conversation before Anthony was apparently reminded of the Captain. Loki couldn’t bear it. He let loose his rage at the unfairness of it all.

Just as everyone preferred Thor to Loki, Anthony preferred to think of Captain America even when speaking to Loki. He was likely think of how he preferred the Captain to Loki of past experience was anything to go by. 

Loki restrained his anger just as quickly as he released it. He knew he had scared Anthony; it was not something he wanted to accomplish with this endeavor. However Loki felt the familiar feeling of betrayal, Loki had hoped that Anthony wouldn’t compare Loki to someone so Golden and good. Anthony should know what it was like; he was often criticized for not being more like Captain America, a true hero. Loki forced himself to look at Anthony. 

Loki’s gaze startled him, which sent a nearby lamp tumbling. Rather than let it injure his Anthony, Loki used his magic to banish it to the depths of Muspelheim where it would burn. Rather than risk another outburst, Loki went to set his last distraction.

Loki hadn’t intended for things to get so out of hand, but that seemed to be a reoccurring theme in his life.


	7. Chapter 7

Steve carried Tony from the building, supporting his small furry body. Steve carried him over to the ambulance and tried to put him down, but Tony decided to cling to Steve. He didn’t want to be separated. Despite his struggles he was wrapped in a blanket and administered oxygen like those pictures online of cats rescued from a fire. Steve remained nearby, but as Tony’s mind cleared he was slowly starting to realize that it wasn’t actually Steve. His confused mind only thought it was him because of the stuff he imagined while waiting for rescue. 

Tony was feeling better so he started looking for his opportunity to leave. Before long Not-Steve was called away to help someone else, which gave Tony his chance to get out of there. He struggled out of his blanket and hopped out of the ambulance after making sure no one was paying attention. He wanted to take the blanket with him since he had lost his bundle of clothes, but it just wasn’t practical to drag it through the streets of New York. 

Tony slipped through the crowd toward the direction of his tower. It was more difficult dodging feet than he thought it would be. Did that person kick him? On purpose? It made Tony wonder why he bothered protecting the people of New York if they go around kicking innocent billionaire cats. Captain America would be ashamed of you people!

Feeling a little battered, Tony decided it was safer to walk through a nearby alleyway. After all there were fewer people, and no one was going to mug a cat. Tony was making plans to convince Steve to do a public awareness campaign for animal cruelty. The hissing that started halfway through clued him in on what a fool he was to think alleys were a safe place for cats. The cat that slinked out from behind a dumpster was easily twice his size, but painfully thin. The alley cat (ha) had a certain scrappiness to him and looked like he could easily take Tony in a fight. It was an odd experience coming face to face with another cat. It was different from seeing one as a human; it sort of leveled the playing field. He hadn’t realized it until now, but Tony was rather small for a cat. This strange cat was a threat, one that Tony would just as soon escape from. 

Thankfully the other cat seemed content to just hiss at him as Tony edged down the alleyway, putting as much space between them as possible. That is until Tony was about three quarters past him, at which point the cat pounced at him. This sent Tony running. When he looked back to check for pursuit, he saw the cat surrounded by little fur balls. 

Oh! That wasn’t a he, it was a momma cat. That explained the defensiveness. Tony probably should have noticed, but he really didn’t know what to do with most of the sensory input from his nose so he had been ignoring it until now. He felt kind of bad for scaring her. Still there was nothing for it, but to continue on home. 

When Tony finally reached his tower, he took the moment to debate the relative merits of going in the front door versus sneaking around back. If he let himself in the backdoor he’d have to change back first, which would mean being naked in New York. Pepper would barbecue him if someone happened to catch that on camera. Steve would probably be disappointed in him too. The advantage being once he was in, there was no chance of being seen. If Tony snuck through the front door as a cat, only changing back once past the lobby, there was a lower chance of being caught by paparazzi. However his employees were almost sure to get eyeful once he turned back, and even sneaking that far in the first place would be difficult. Did he want to play mission impossible, or take a gamble with the easy way in?

Tony tried to convince himself that it didn’t say anything about his personality that he went with the gamble. He was tired; it had been a long day of abduction by Loki, fires, and walking the streets on delicate paws. So Tony went around to the rear of the tower, checked for camera toting vultures, and waited by the back door. On the way over he had been strategically thinking of Steve, but now he put his full focus on getting back to the Avengers common room so he could collapse on the couch. Maybe he should order some sushi, that bagel was a long time ago. 

Tony was very quick to enter the code on the keypad next to the door once he had fingers again. He waited impatiently for the fingerprint and retinal scans to complete. He walked down the short security camera line corridor that led to his private elevator. Once he was in the elevator, JARVIS ran a biometrics scan on him before greeting him. “It is a pleasure to see you again, sir. Shall I remind you of Miss Potts threats regarding public exposure?” The elevator started it’s ascent to his own penthouse apartment. His was more spacious and classy than Loki’s. 

“I know what she said, it couldn’t be avoided this time. Alert the Avengers of my return. Tell them I’ll be in the meeting room in ten.” That should give him enough time to get changed. Hopefully if he just meets them he’ll be able to avoid too much fuss. 

“I’ve passed on your message, sir, but I’m afraid the Avengers will not be available for some time. They were searching for you in Taiwan.” JARVIS sounded apologetic. 

That gave Tony pause. He had thought they would be running the search out of the Tower. “Taiwan? We would they look there?”

“It was one of the many places Loki has been spotted over the past day.” JARVIS informed Tony. 

“That son of a bitch has been leading them on a wild goose chase!” Tony grumbled, rather annoyed Loki so easily pulled one over on his team. 

Tony took his time getting dressed. He didn’t have the energy for a shower, but gave his face a good scrub with a wash cloth to get some of the sweat off. After fiddling with his hair a bit he decided he could record some of the work he did trapped in Loki’s apartment while waiting for the team.

A few hours later, Tony watched as the Avengers filtered into the room, but thought better of it and turned his eyes to his Starkpad. He wanted to explain what happened with Loki, at least the bits he felt worth sharing. Tony tried very hard to ignore who was coming in, but he was right there. Steve was right there! No one could see him and not think about it. 

The Avengers were startled to say the least when Tony Stark turned into a cat before their eyes. They tensed as if expecting Loki to appear and fight them. Tony just gave a soft kitty sigh and went to corral Bruce. It would be easiest to talk to him about it and he could pass the message on. Thor would need to be included since he was more familiar with magic, but Bruce was his designated listener of tales of woe. 

Bruce looked down at the cat clawing his pant leg and trying to push him out of the room while meowing. Bruce looked up at the other Avengers. “I think he wants to talk to me alone.” Tony sat down and nodded at this. Brucie-bear really got him. This is why they were science bros. 

Natasha’s subtle change in expression would have been an eye roll on anyone else. “Let’s go boys. We need to give them some space.” The other Avengers glanced at each other before leaving the room. Steve shot Tony a worried look before making his own exit. Tony shot out and grabbed Thor’s ankle before he could follow Steve. 

“It seems the Man of Iron wishes my counsel was well.” Thor intoned. Tony wondered how he was so dramatic all the time. 

Bruce decided to get the ball rolling. “So, I’m assuming you can still understand me. Standard system: One meow for yes, two for no. Got it?” Bruce looked tired. He must have been worried. Tony meowed once. 

“Are you injured? You looked fine, but I want to be sure.” Tony meowed twice.

“Is this the first time you turned into a cat?” Tony meowed “no”.

“I thought so, you didn’t seem very surprised. Do you know how to turn back?” Tony meowed “yes”, then after moment meowed “no”.

“I’m guessing ‘yes’ for a temporary fix and ‘no’ for a permanent one.” Tony gave an affirmative answer. 

Thor took this opportunity to get his say, “It would appear my brother has placed a curse upon you, Tony Stark. Perhaps your transformation is reliant on certain conditions?” No shit He-man! Tony privately thought, but settled for a meowed “yes” as his response. 

Bruce turned to Thor, “Is there anything you can do? Do you know anyone who might be able to help?” Thor looked apologetic as he said, “I fear not my friends. A curse such as this needs to be lifted by the caster and I do not believe Loki will be receptive to our petitions. Nonetheless, I shall endeavor to change his mind!”

Bruce panicked and said, “Never mind Thor, you should probably stay out of this. Knowing Loki, it might make things worse.” Tony was inclined to agree, it didn’t matter if Loki kind of liked him, if it made Thor upset Loki would probably turn him into a cat or something worse full time. Thor deflated a bit at this, undoubtedly remembering a time when Loki would help him with anything he asked. 

“Tony, I don’t think there is much I can do either. You know we haven’t had much luck sorting out magic. We might be able to find out something new if I run a battery of tests, but I don’t see making the kind of leap necessary to fix this. I’m sorry.” Tony did know this, but was still disappointed to hear it from the scientist’s mouth. That disappointed completely overshadowed any excitement he might have felt to get this kind of data on magic and was reflected in his small body.

Just then, the transformation wore off, leaving Tony sitting naked on the floor, head bowed in defeat. Both of the Avengers were slightly startled by the change. Then Bruce smiled a little, “It’s nice not to be the one left without clothes for once. Can you tell me what happened?”

“Loki wanted to talk about something, I pissed him off, and he cursed me. It’s pretty simple really. Now I have to not to think about- a thing. If I don’t want to turn small and furry that is.” Tony concentrated really hard on his words but not the implications behind them; he needed to stay human.

“I guess you can’t tell us what you can’t think about because then you would be thinking about it then.” Tony didn’t tell them it was also because it was embarrassing. “Okay, I won’t press you for further details and I’ll tell the rest of the team to do the same.” Thor made a face like he wanted to ask about what Loki wanted to talk about, but held his silence. 

After Bruce and Thor left, Tony remembered Momma cat and her babies. “Hey, JARVIS? Can you send someone over to this alleyway over on 33rd? I need to make up for something.”


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've been mentally referring to this chapter as the science chapter, you'll see why.

Two days after Loki cursed him, Tony was in the kitchen hunting for tuna. He’d had the rest of the day to himself after talking things out with Bruce and Thor yesterday. Earlier in the day Tony had met with Bruce in his lab to run through the tests they designed to figure out how magic works. Bruce was still going through the data when Tony left to find some lunch. Those tests had gotten Tony thinking about his situation. 

Tony shuddered to think what would have happened if he was cursed like this before removing the ARC reactor. Would it have been too large for his chest? Would it have shrunk down with him, weakening it so the shrapnel in his heart could move? Or would it have disappeared entirely, leaving metal to pierce his heart completely unhindered? 

Tony didn’t want to think of the implications that would arise if Loki could just remove the ARC reactor and shrapnel as a whole. Would that mean that when he was a cat, it wasn’t even his body at all? Up until now he was thinking of it as a transformation, but what if it was more like transference from one body to another? The change was near instantaneous and didn’t cause any pain. There was a certain amount of mass gained or lost when switching. Tony hadn’t thought too much about it because Bruce did something similar when turning into the Hulk and back, but fundamentally their transformations were different. When Bruce turned into the Hulk, he sort of grew into it, but for Tony one moment he was himself, the next he was a cat. It was as if he was simply replaced. This is why Tony hated magic. No matter how he tried to figure out how it worked, to form some sort of harmony between magic and the laws of physics, he failed. He was better off when he was too preoccupied to question what happened to him. 

On a less anxiety inducing note, Bruce had done some research into cat breeds in order to have more complete data on this curse. The best Bruce could figure, Tony was similar to the Havana Brown breed of cat with the exception of his smaller size and golden brown eyes. Tony was surprised to hear that his eyes took on a more gold tone when he turned into a cat, he'd have to spend more time checking himself out. He was sure he was quite the handsome kitty. 

Tony was thinking about these things while going through the kitchen pantry. He was set on having a tuna salad sandwich for lunch, but was having trouble finding the tuna he knew was in there. Just as he finally found a can of the stuff, he heard Steve’s voice calling him from behind. The can clattered to the floor, hurting Tony’s sensitive feline ears. 

“Oh! Sorry Tony! I just needed to talk to you about something.” Steve said as he picked up the can of tuna Tony dropped due to his sudden lack of hands. “Did you want to eat this?” Tony meowed yes and nodded to drive the point home. “Okay, I’ll put it in a bowl for you, is that okay?” Tony was so hyper-aware of Steve he didn’t think he’d be able to turn back anytime soon. Tony stepped out of his clothes and sat at Steve’s feet, looking up at him expectantly. Steve must have got the message because he smiled and started dishing out the tuna. He tried to put it on the floor in front of Tony, but Tony just jumped up to the kitchen table and meowed reproachfully. With a quick sorry, Steve moved the bowl up to the table. 

“I know you aren’t going to like this, but I need to take you off the team until this is fixed.” Steve said after watching Tony eat for a few minutes. Tony looked up at him, licking tuna off his lips. Steve continued, “Your transformations are rather unpredictable and you’ll be a liability in the field like this. I just can’t have you out there.” Tony hated it. He hated not being able to go out there and save people. He hated having to sit on the sidelines while his team was risking their lives. He hated how selfish it made him feel. He hated it, but he knew Steve was right. Tony couldn’t justify going out there when he knew that he wouldn’t be able to stop thinking about Steve. Even if Steve weren’t on the field with him, he still asks himself “What would Captain America do?” all the time in battle. He didn’t always do what he thought Steve would do in the same situation, but he was something of a role model for Tony so it was a thought that came up often. So for all that he loathed being taken out of action, Tony let Steve know he understood the need for it.

Steve shoulders slumped in relief after Tony nodded. “I’m glad you didn’t fight me on this.” As Steve went about preparing his own lunch, Tony went back to eating his tuna, perhaps a bit more sullen than before. 

Tony may have agreed to be benched for the time being, but it didn’t mean he was going to let a little curse getting the way of being Iron Man. He just needed to work out how to control the suit even as a cat. Tony already created a system for remotely controlling Iron Man, now he had to adapt it to work for Tony as a cat or human. The brain–computer interface headset he used with the MK. 42 relied on Electroencephalography to control the suit, but it would take too long to map the same neural pathways in a feline brain. Additionally, a headset wouldn’t be able to deal with a sudden switch between human and cat forms. 

Taking all this into account, Tony decided to start work on a gesture based system. JARVIS would have to smooth the transitions between the gestures and the actual movements of the suit because even with JARVIS scanning micro-gestures, the suit requires a lot of fine control. The only disadvantage was a slight drop in reaction time. Tony wouldn’t have to do a ton of programming for the human set of gestures because before he perfected his brain-computer interface, his suits were controlled through micro-gestures. A twitch of his fingers was the difference between firing a laser or a missile. The bulk of the work would be matching up feline gestures with the movements of a humanoid suit. Tony thought it would be doable in a week with testing. 

Tony set to work right away. The sooner he finished preparing a suit, the sooner he could start convincing a certain old man he could still be in the field, in a manner of speaking. Tony realized by simply thinking that he delayed things further as cat paws aren’t as good for typing as hands. Tony brushed aside his frustration and thought about his new project. Several transformations back and forth between cat and human later, Tony was irritated enough to start using his expensive ergonomic chair as a scratching post. Surely he didn’t think about Steve this much normally, right? He may have a tiny, sub-atomic sized crush on the man, but he was only thinking about him because he knew he shouldn’t. That was it. No other reason. The Nile was a river in Egypt. Cats were worshipped in Egypt. So there was no problem here, right?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For more information on Tony's cat breed: http://cfa.org/Breeds/BreedsCJ/HavanaBrown.aspx


	9. Chapter 9

Steve is on top of Tony, kissing him gently, their bare skin flush. Tony puts his hand on Steve’s face and drinks in the adoration he sees there. All at once, Steve pulls away. He is standing next to the bed in his uniform. Steve’s face is angry as he tells Tony, “You’ll never wash the blood from your hands. You’ll never make up for it. You’ll never be enough.” Outside fire is raining down from the skies. Alien forces are invading. People are dying. Tony didn’t do enough, he didn’t protect them. He wasn’t worth saving, but he lives anyway. Tony is alone, knees sinking into the blood soaked sand as he gazes into the infinite darkness of the Void overhead. Everyone is dead and he is alive because he didn’t do enough. 

Tony woke up from his nightmare completely wrapped in his sheets. To make matters worse, his claws were stuck in the fabric surrounding him. Eventually he struggled free, leaving only slightly shredded sheets behind him. That dream had started pleasantly enough, but managed to hit most of his anxieties and fears by the end of it. As much as Tony wanted to pretend he solved his Steve-related issues, he would always think of Captain America as the standard to live up to and it wasn’t shocking that Tony’s subconscious would have him telling Tony all the worst things Tony believes of himself. Tony desperately needed some air. Being in the same place his nightmare started made it seem all the more real. He could feel the crushing weight of failure and worthlessness. 

Tony stepped out of the elevator at the Avenger’s common room floor. The lights were off, but the glow of the city shined through the huge windows that lined the outside of the building. Tony’s cat eyes didn’t need much light to see by anyway. Steve was sitting at the kitchen table, nursing a mug of warm milk. Thinking of his awful dream, Tony almost turned around, but if Steve was sitting here like this, then he probably had his own dreams to contend with. Tony pawed Steve’s ankle to get his attention. Steve gave him a soft smile. Tony took the opportunity to jump in Steve’s lap. That was how cats comfort people, there was absolutely nothing weird about it. Tony also wanted to test his theories about Steve’s petting abilities. After checking with Tony if it was ok, Steve gathered him in his arms and walked over to the sofa where they could curl up comfortably.

As it turns out, Steve knew nothing about petting cats. Tony was getting frustrated with his fumbling and grabbed his hand with his paws. Tony then carefully positioned himself underneath Steve’s hand where he wanted to be petted. The big dope caught on right away. That was much better.

"You know, I used to be allergic to cats. Couldn't get near 'em." Steve said, stroking Tony's fur. "When I was in Europe a lotta the towns we passed through had stray cats. I thought since I wasn't allergic anymore I could finally get to pet one, but I guess after spending so much time on the streets they didn't trust people so much. Buck would laugh every time one of those strays would hightail it out of there to avoid getting pet. The stupid jerk. So I guess what I'm saying is, I never knew a cat’s fur was so soft." Tony started purring as he relaxed into Steve’s touch. All the tension that built up because of this curse melted away. Tony wanted to melt away Steve’s sadness too. “I just miss him Tony. I don’t know what to do, he keeps running away from me just like those damn strays. What happened to him was all my fault. I don’t care what anyone says I shoulda been there for him, he was my best friend.” Steve had stopped petting Tony and was quietly sobbing into his fur. Tony had never seen Steve this broken up before. Before thinking about it too much Tony rolled on to his back and pawed at Steve’s face affectionately. The action seemed to bring Steve back to himself a bit.

Steve, no longer crying, buried his face in Tony’s belly fur for a minute before pulling himself together and resuming petting Tony. “Sorry about that. I didn’t mean to lose control like that. It was nice and I ruined it by being a sap.” Tony wouldn’t stand for that sort of talk from Steve, so he nipped his fingers a little to shut him up. “Ow! What has that for?” Steve wasn’t hurt of course but he frowned at Tony anyway. Tony silently put his paw on Steve’s mouth and tried his best to convey “Zip it Capsicle!” with his eyes. Steve just laughed a little and said, “Okay, I got it.” 

They sat there a while, with Steve alternating between scratching Tony under his chin and rubbing his tummy. Eventually Tony drifted off to a dreamless sleep and if a few minutes later Steve found his lap full of a very naked and human Tony Stark, he never said anything about it.


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tony tried to turn this into smut, what he doesn't realize is I'm not going to write it. He was punished accordingly.

The next morning Tony found himself tucked into bed. Tony began his morning routine without much fanfare. After he put on some clothes, brushed his teeth, and combed his hair, he went to the kitchen for his morning cup of coffee. For this morning’s breakfast he opted to try the taramasalata he ordered from the gourmet food shop the other day on some whole grain toast. Clint, the only other Avenger who didn’t rise at a ridiculously early (or unknown in the case of Natasha) hour, greeted Tony and sat down to a breakfast of sugary cereal. Tony loves his junk food, but tries to eat as healthy as he can, frequently checking out new trends in healthy eating. While Tony was cleaning up his dishes, he noticed Clint looking at him with the sort of face that was reserved for pranking and awesome trick shots. Tony resolved to keep an eye out for anything suspicious.

Once Tony finished his breakfast he went for his daily work out in the (thankfully empty) gym. He had to work out not just to maintain his aging body, but also to keep up the strength to pilot the armor and do heavy lifting in the workshop. Tony was glad most people didn’t realize the energy he put into staying fit, he’d rather everything he did looked effortless. 

Tony was rinsing the sweat off post-workout when, purely out of habit, his hand wandered a bit lower. He didn’t get very far into pleasuring himself before finding out why cats hate water. He yowled in surprise. His drenched fur felt heavy against his skin as he went slipping and sliding out of the shower, meowing in complaint the whole way. 

Having made it out of the bathroom, Tony could see that Steve had come running to check out the commotion. Steve, now that he determined there wasn’t a threat, was laughing at the way Tony’s fur was plastered all over him. Tony hissed at Steve for hurting his pride, but he didn’t strike any sort of imposing form while tiny and dripping wet. Tony began to shiver. 

Steve quickly got over how ridiculous Tony looked with wet fur and grabbed a towel. “Here I’ll help you dry off.” He carefully scooped up Tony with the towel and brought him to the gas fireplace on the common room floor to warm up. He gently rubbed Tony down. When he wasn’t quite so waterlogged, Tony got loose and sat down near the fire so he could groom himself. His fur was sticking up at odd angles. 

Tony was trying to ignore Steve’s fascinated gaze when he saw something move in the corner of his eye. He froze and saw it move again, this time he leaped for it. He narrowly missed, but quickly caught sight of it again. He wasn’t going to let it get away, not with Steve watching. He’d hunt that thing down to the ends of the earth and prove he was the best. The best at what? The best at everything. 

Tony might have been getting ahead of himself because after taking a sharp turn to chase the fluttering thing he saw the so called man behind the curtain. Clint had apparently decided to go out and buy a cat toy to mess with their resident genius. Tony stopped where he was and feigned nonchalance. He surreptitiously checked Steve’s reaction; he looked suspiciously close to laughter. This wasn’t good. However before Tony could come up with a plan to regain his dignity, that thing was dangled in his face. He tried to grab it.

Before he knew it he was chasing what amounted to some feathers tied to a stick around the common room floor. What was this? A post-workout workout? Clint was really getting a kick out of it, the bastard. At least Steve was happier than last night, the whole time he was laughing and chatting about Tony’s antics. Tony put a little extra effort in for Steve, but was quickly tired out having already exercised once that day. 

Natasha called Steve away to talk about something, leaving Clint and Tony alone. Tony was thinking of pranks to get back at Clint for this latest indignity, when Tony turned back.

“Eww, gross! Puts some pants on dude!” Clint shouted.

“You just can’t handle how hot I am.” Tony teased and left to go get his change of clothes. 

“You wish I was interested in your ass!” Clint called after him.

Once Tony had finished changing he went back to the common room to mess with Clint some more. It was especially funny when Clint would get upset at Tony for pointing out his shit taste in TV shows. He greeted Clint with a whack upside the head. 

Rubbing his head, Clint turned to him and complained, “I like you better as a cat, you don’t hit me.”

“You’re lucky I didn’t claw you, birdbrain.” Tony joked while making claws with his hands.

“Ha! You wouldn’t! You’re a cute, snuggly kitty!” Clint cooed. 

Tony’s expression turned incredulous, because seriously? “When did I ever ‘snuggle’ with you?” 

“You will eventually! I can tell! You are totally a lap cat looking for affection!” Clint said confidently. 

That hit a little too close to home, so Tony gruffly said, “Yeah!? Well I wouldn’t curl up with an ass like you!”

Clint realized his teasing stung a little more than it should have and asked, “Are you okay? I know it must be hard on you to not have any control over this.”

Tony felt a bit bed for snapping at Clint so after a moment he said, “Yeah, I’m feline fine.”

Clint booed. “That’s horrible! Why would you do that, man? Cat puns? Really?”

Tony laughed, “You know you like it!”

“No I don’t! Unlike you, I have a sense of humor with class!”

“You wouldn’t know class if it bit you in your feathered ass!”

Clint just laughed at that. Once he caught his breath he said, “Want to get some pizza for lunch?”

Whatever else could be said about Clint, the man had good taste in pizza. Which is why Tony was surprised when Clint made a face at Tony’s order of pizza. "Dude, you’ve been eating a lot of fish lately." Clint said with a tone that was somewhere between accusing and worried. Tony scoffed at the idea, “You’re imagining things. So I want a few anchovies on my pizza, it doesn’t mean anything. I’m just trying new tastes.”

Clint gave him a pointed look and said, "There is leftover sushi in the fridge, a mountain of tuna and sardine cans in the recycling, and earlier I saw you eating toast with some sort of fish eggs smeared on it. You've got to admit it's a thing now."

Tony realized Clint was right. He thought back on the past few days, did the curse have any other effect on his human behavior? Tony didn’t think so, but he couldn’t be sure. Either way he just wanted this thing over and done with.


	11. Chapter 11

Clint and Tony were finishing up their pizza when Pepper arrived. Until now she had been in Sweden negotiating a business deal. Tony had called her on his first day back in the tower to let her know he was okay, but didn’t give many details beyond that. He had suspected Steve would call and tell her once he knew what was going on, the two of them probably talked about Tony behind his back. They always seemed to know more about what Tony had been up to than either one of them should.

“Hey! Pep! How was Sweden? Did you bring back any Swedish fish? Just Kidding! You did get some Surströmming though, right? Did I say that right? Surstromming, Surstrumming…?”

“It’s good to see that you’re doing okay, Tony. I was worried when they said Loki abducted you. I heard there was a curse?” Pepper said, ignoring Tony’s attempt at deflection.

“Yeah, he turns into just the cutest little kitty! Don’t you Tony? It happens when he thinks about something; we aren’t supposed to ask what.” Clint cut in before Tony could come up with something less embarrassing.

Tony glared at Clint and told Pepper, “Yeah, I occasionally turn small and furry, but I’ve got it handled.” Clint snorted at that, but got up and told them, “I’m going to go train for a while. See ya.”

Pepper watched Clint leave, and then sat next to Tony, holding his hand. “Tony, I know this isn’t easy, and I can’t even begin to understand what crazy things happen to you, but I’m here for you.”

“Thanks Pepper.”

The emotional stuff out of the way, Pepper decided to get down to business. “Now, How are we going to explain to the Board of Directors that the majority share-holder and Head of R&D is a part-time feline? I know you don’t come to meetings that often, but we won’t be able to disguise the slowdown in Research and Development if this becomes long term. Do we have any leads on fixing this?”

Tony looked at her despondently. “You can tell the Board whatever you want, but Pepper, I talked to Bruce and Thor and neither of them thinks there is anything they can do. Thor says only Loki can lift the curse.” Tony explained. He really was getting better at sharing bad news.

Pepper’s face crumpled a little at that, but she pulled herself together and started to say, “Okay, in that case, I’ll te-“ Before she finished, Steve came in. She didn’t notice that so much as Tony’s immediate transformation into a cat, so she was surprised when Steve said, “Sorry, I had something to tell Tony, but I’ll come back later. I didn’t mean to interrupt.” She had a thoughtful look on her face as she watched Steve leave.

“Tony?” She asked, “Does thinking about Steve turn you into a cat?”

Tony really couldn’t do anything but nod after batting his too large clothes away from his face. Of course Pepper would figure it out. She knew him best out of just about anybody. She’s also seen his collection of Captain America memorabilia.

“I’m not sure why Loki would do this, but I’m not surprised it comes back to Steve.” Pepper gave him a knowing look. She gave him an experimental scratch behind the ears before sighing.

She resignedly said, “I won’t say anything to the team. You could have figured out how to tell them this if you really wanted to, but you didn’t want them to know, did you?” Tony was glad Pepper was being so understanding about this. He really wouldn’t survive without her. He put his paw on her hand in thanks.

“I’ll take care of the board, you need to delegate some of your work in R&D. I know you like to do everything you can yourself, but at least trust your engineers with a few of the smaller projects. I’ll come by to check on you.” She got up to leave, patting Tony on the head. “JARVIS? Can you let Steve know Tony is free now?”

It wasn’t long before Steve returned to the common room. Tony ran right up to him and raised his paws. It was hard to balance like that, but thankfully it worked because Steve picked him up and held him close. Somewhere around the time Steve was giving him belly rubs Tony stopped being able to down play his feelings for Steve. Tony knew there was no denying he was hopelessly in love. So Tony took what he could get as far as physical affection was concerned.

“So, what I needed to talk to you about was that I’m going to be gone a few days with Natasha and Sam. Natasha told me about another base we found in Bulgaria and there is a high chance Bucky could be nearby so we are going to check it out.” Steve looked tired, but hopeful. “There was something else as well; it’s about lifting your curse.” Tony tilted his head at that, Thor said only Loki could do it. Steve continued, “I know what Thor said, but he’d be the first to admit he isn’t a real expert in magic, so I’ve been asking around a bit. There are rumors of this man called Doctor Stephen Strange; they say he is some sort of sorcerer. I asked Clint to look into it while I’m out on this mission. It’s no guarantee or anything, but there is a chance this will help. I don’t want you to think we’ve given up on you.”

Tony pressed closer to Steve and listened to his heartbeat. Tony was feeling so relieved that he was starting to come apart even though nothing had really been solved and Steve was going away. Steve cared about Tony, and if the most stubborn member of the Avengers said he wasn’t going to give up, then Tony was probably going to be okay. Tony was glad cats couldn’t cry.


	12. Chapter 12

Steve and Natasha left for Bulgaria the same night Steve told Tony about the mission. They met up with Sam while preparing for takeoff in the quinjet. He refused to move into the tower no matter how many times Tony casually hinted how awesome it would be. Tony was sure at some point Falcon would give up and move to New York, it certainly would be easier on him. 

Thor stayed behind after the quinjet departed and Clint and Bruce returned to their rooms. Tony could feel his fur stand up due to the static he was generating. 

“Friend Tony, I have a matter I wish to speak about with you.” Tony’s ears pricked forward in curiosity. Thor was a great drinking buddy and, as Tony found out during his break up with Pepper, he gave great relationship advice, but Tony was not used to having serious conversations with him sober. They seated themselves on the couch, Tony in classic kittyloaf position, Thor as if there was a great weight on his shoulders. 

Thor hesitantly started with “There are a great many things my brother does that I do not understand, especially as of late. However we have been together for many years, so I can tell when Loki has found interest in something, as I believe he has you, Friend Tony. Perhaps you would not have been cursed if I took the time to warn you of that. For this, I am truly sorry.” Thor took a moment to find his words. He wanted to get this right. 

When Thor was ready to continue, he took a breath and said, “I have recently come to realize that I have failed Loki as a brother and as a friend. In the past there were many occasions where I dismissed his advice, foolishly believing myself wiser. I never defended him from the cutting jokes my friends made about him. I, myself, have said things that I should not have to a brother. It is no surprise that he now denies our family ties now that he knows his true heritage. All this is no excuse for Loki’s actions, but I have started to understand what he must have feared when he found out he was a frost giant. It was shocking to me, but I never stopped thinking of him as my brother. Loki would have only seen how we hurt him and not how we loved him because we were poor at showing it. My failure to treat him like a brother only drove him further away from me. He believes himself a monster because of my arrogance and foolishness.”

This was the most Tony had ever heard Thor say at once, he was almost rambling. Tony obviously didn’t have the full context for what happened between Loki and Thor, but he did understand this, Thor blamed himself for giving Loki doubts. Thor seemed to be claiming that Loki was evil because he didn’t feel loved enough and Tony would have doubted it if it weren’t for the way Loki reacted to Tony’s rejection. Tony felt bad since he clearly added to Loki’s HUGE pile of issues. Thor didn’t mention it, but Loki seemed prone to jealousy and probably resented Thor for getting the love he didn’t. At least that was what Tony was sensing based on how Loki reacted to Tony thinking about Steve. It must have seemed like his experience with Thor all over again. 

Thor still had more to say. “I told you this in the hopes that we can reach an understanding with my brother. He may yet decide to lift this curse upon you.” Thor stood up and said, “I must go, my Lady Jane awaits me.” Tony got whiplash from how quickly Thor went from talking about Loki’s issues to leaving for his date. Tony couldn’t really begrudge Thor a few days with his love, it’s not like Loki could be convinced of anything so soon, if at all. 

The next three days pass peacefully with the exception of an incident involving catnip in the vents. Tony hoped no one recorded that, but then again it wouldn’t be the worst video of him on YouTube. 

You'd think Tony would have worked out by now how to avoid Steve related thoughts, but no, in fact Tony was thinking about him almost constantly now. Tony could tell this was worrying Bruce and Clint. Tony couldn’t help it, he missed Steve. His absence only made him more prominent in Tony’s mind. Pepper would occasionally come by to distract Tony, but she was too busy to stay long.

After that first night staying up in a Steveless tower, Tony started sneaking down to sleep in Steve’s bed. He probably shouldn’t, but Tony took up so little space that he hardly disturbed anything at all. At least that is how Tony rationalized it. 

On Tony’s eighth night since getting cursed and third night of sleeping in Steve’s bed, Clint was out of the tower and Bruce was holed up in his lab. So when Tony was awoken by someone stroking his ears, he thought Steve had come back. It was not Steve. 

Had Tony been human, he wouldn’t have been able to make out the shadowy figure petting him, thankfully cats had excellent night vision because Tony could see that it was James Buchanan Barnes. Holy Shit. The Winter Soldier was petting Tony and he didn’t dare do anything about it. Why wasn’t Steve here? Steve should be here. 

Tony watched as Bucky Barnes silently slipped out of Steve’s room. Tony was freaking out because he shouldn’t be able to get past the security systems and why wasn’t Steve here? No, really, why wasn’t Steve here? And why wasn’t JARVIS responding? Steve has been looking for this guy all over the world and he just shows up!

Well, no, he didn’t just show up did he? Tony realized after calming down a bit. Barnes picked a night when the majority of the Avengers were out and Steve was a long ways off. Tony noticed a letter left on Steve’s desk. Because breaking into a highly secure tower and leaving a letter is the best way to get into contact with someone of course. 

Rather than struggle with the envelope and risk damaging anything, Tony decided to take it to Bruce. Tony, reasonably certain it was safe, delicately took it in his teeth and started making his way to Bruce’s lab. An open floor plan and automatic doors were indispensable when you couldn’t open doors yourself, but the latter was rather inconvenient when the sensors to open said doors weren’t working. Tony waited the ten minutes he knew it would take for JARVIS to reboot himself. 

“Sir, I apologize. I seem to have been infected with a virus. I have quarantined the program and I await further instructions.” JARVIS said. Tony was relieved to hear his voice. This is what he got for slacking on his daily updates to protect JARVIS. Tony couldn’t do anything now, but as soon as he could he’d get back to coding. He could stop pining after Steve long enough to do that.

JARVIS made sure Tony’s progress was no longer impeded as he went to Bruce’s lab. Bruce was surprised to see Tony there, holding an envelope. Bruce took the envelope from Tony and read it. Bruce looked at Tony and said, “We need to call the rest of the team back, this says Hydra is planning an attack on the tower.”


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is kind of on the short side. I guess I'm too terse to be writing lengthy action scenes.

While waiting for the rest of the team to get back Bruce helped Tony jot down ideas for Tower defense. Tony would carefully type key words with his paws and Bruce would extrapolate from there with Tony’s input. The tower was well protected as it was, but if Hydra was planning attack then they would need something extra to counter whatever Hydra had up their sleeve. 

The letter didn’t give any information such as possible time frames for the attack or the size of the forces, but it did mention that armed quinjets were likely to be used in the attack. It didn’t even clarify what the goal of the attack was. It could be in order to capture or destroy the Avengers, to steal some of the technology being developed in the tower, or just for the sake of making a statement. Details in the letter were sparse and to make matters worse, Tony wasn’t even sure the warning could be trusted. Barnes could be using this as a trap or diversion, someone could be tricking him, or this could be a product of his imagination. There was no way to tell what sort of mental state Barnes was in. 

At some point Tony managed to clear out any viruses messing with JARVIS and put up extra layers of encryption. It was easier to remain human for this because he didn’t have to think about how the other Avengers (or more significantly Steve) would deal with it, unlike the defense plans. He really wished Steve was there to refine his plans. Bruce was great for the science aspects of it, but Steve brought the more human, and tactical aspects to the table. Tony had some idea of the towers weak points and where certain defenses would do the most damage, but Steve experience storming highly defensed buildings combined with his innate tactical skill would really serve to make Avenger’s Tower impenetrable.

Thor arrived first, Tony has seen him fly, but still isn’t quite sure how a magical hammer is faster than the quinjet. An hour or so later, the quinjet arrives with Steve, Natasha and Sam inside. Rather than wait for Clint to get back from wherever he went to investigate a lead on that Strange fellow, the assembled members went about analyzing the letter and comparing the information they provided with their knowledge of remaining Hydra cells. Steve obviously wanted to ask about the circumstances around the delivery of the letter, but held off. Steve looks over Tony’s plans for the tower’s defense. He approves them and Tony has JARVIS get the production lines rolling. 

Clint still wasn’t back when JARVIS warned the Avengers of suspicious incoming aircraft. It was just before dawn when the Avengers scrambled to get into positions directed by Captain America. Their preparations weren’t even close to being done. Natasha was directed to protect the labs. Those were the most valuable sections of the building and a likely target. Everything the rest of the Avengers were assigned to do was to prevent enemies from getting that far, but Black Widow was more than capable of taking out anyone that got past the lines. Cap had Thor in the air, taking out what he could of the approaching aircraft. Falcon was to go out and help him with the battle in the air. Bruce was told to stay on standby in case the Hulk was needed, for now they didn’t want to risk structural damage to the tower or any of the surrounding buildings. Captain America was going to the Lobby to head off anyone trying to invade from street level. When Hawkeye arrived he was be on the roof sniping targets in the air and on the ground. Tony was supposed to lock himself in the lab. That was the plan anyway. 

Something shook the building before anyone got to their positions. The wreckage of a quinjet came crushing through the wall. Tony was disoriented from the debris raining down and the deafening noise. The quinjet was smoking, but any fire was prevented by the tower’s unique sprinkler system which doused it in foam. Tony had lost track of most of the Avengers in the chaos, but he could hear the Hulk’s roar through the alarms as Steve stuffed Tony under a desk. Hydra Agents swung into the tower through the hole the crashed quinjet made in the side of the building. Steve stood protectively in front of the desk where Tony was hidden.


	14. Chapter 14

Tony could see Steve fighting through the smoke and dust; he was surrounded by Hydra agents. True to their maxim, every time one went down, two more showed up. Steve was visibly starting to get overwhelmed. He tried to get into a more defensible position, but he went down mid-dash, some sort of restraints were tangled around his feet. Captain America still didn’t give up. 

Every Hydra agent that got too close to Captain America was bashed with his shield or kicked by his restrained feet. In the moments in between defending himself from the agents, Steve was trying to break whatever was holding his feet together. The Hydra agents were not held back for long, before Steve could free his feet, he was covered in agents. Tony couldn’t see clearly what was happening to him. Then he caught sight of Steve’s limp hand.

Tony couldn’t think anymore, he tried to get to Steve. He leaped out of his hiding spot, ready to rip apart anyone touching Steve. Tony was on the nearest Hydra agent in a matter of seconds. He was tearing at any part of his enemy he could reach. Somehow he managed to get the agent’s helmet off. The majority of the agents ignored the attack and continued to carry Steve away, however one stayed behind to try to pull Tony off his victim. 

Tony tried to pull free from the hands crushing him; he needed to get to Steve. He couldn’t let Hydra capture Captain America, who knows what they would do to Steve. Suddenly the hands holding him let go. Tony landed on his feet and went haring after the cluster agents that had Steve. Before Tony could make it through the rubble, a different set of hands enclosed around him. They were much gentler, but with a grip strong enough that Tony couldn’t get free.

Tony distantly could hear someone talking to him, calling his name, telling him to calm down. Tony didn’t care; he needed Steve to be alright. He needed to get to Steve. He’s fight every Hydra agent there if necessary. Yet, Tony couldn’t follow the figures that already disappeared through the haze. It didn’t matter how much he struggled against the leather clad chest or how he scratched the arms holding him, it didn’t make a difference. Tony continued to panic even after he lost the energy to fight the hold on him. Tony was no longer sure where he was or what was happening, all he knew was that Steve needed help.

The voice continued to murmur in his ear. Tony eventually calmed enough to make some sense of the words. “…was so angry he refused to speak to me for a month. To this day he is unable to leave hatching alkonost alone, the fool. Another time, I had to rescue him from Ratatoskr whose whisperings had him and his oafish friends at each other’s throats in jealousy.” More aware of his surroundings now, Tony realized Loki must have teleported him to one his hideouts. This one was obviously more personal as many of the things Tony had been looking for last time, magic tomes, enchanted jewelry and the like, were lined up on shelves and spread out on what was clearly a work table. Tony only half listened to Loki’s stories of repeatedly bailing Thor out of trouble caused by his own bullheadedness. The rest of his attention went towards further examination of Loki’s private space. 

Loki’s voice stopped as Tony found himself straddling Loki’s lap naked. Tony was flustered by the way Loki was looking at him and tried to pull away, but that only unbalanced him. He had to cling to Loki’s shoulders for support. He felt Loki’s hand carefully steadying him, his back tingled where they touched which made him aware of how his front was completely plastered on Loki. It took every ounce of Tony’s iron will to remind his body that now was not a good time to react to these sensations. 

Loki pulled back to look Tony in the eye. “I am glad you are safe, I feared I would lose you.”

Tony looked away from the green eyes that seemed to fill his vision. Had Loki come there to protect Tony? It was still strange to think of Loki as having good intentions after all that has happened. Tony thought about what Thor had told him, maybe he should give Loki more credit.

“Thanks for the help, but my team needs me. I need to go.” Tony told Loki, trying to keep his voice light.

“And what would you do, when you returned to the ruins of your tower? If the battle is not over, it is nearly so and you are defenseless in any case. I will not put you in harm’s way again.” Loki said harshly.

“I need to make sure they’re safe! Ste-!” Tony remembered seeing Steve being carted off and cut off the meowing his speech had turned into. Tony found the energy to try to struggle free once more. Loki put a stop to this by lifting him by the back of Tony’s neck, rendering him helpless as a kitten. He tossed Tony through a door which he then slammed shut, trapping Tony. 

Tony looked around; he was clearly in Loki’s bedroom. In fact there was that same bed that was in the penthouse he was stuck in before. Tony ignored it in favor of looking out the window. He couldn’t tell where he was, but it was definitely a city, probably still New York. Unlike last time, there didn’t appear to be any sort of barrier around the window. If he had hands he could likely open it or at least break the glass. Tony tried clearing his mind.

No matter how hard Tony tried to focus on other things without Loki to distract him scenes from Steve’s capture would pop up in his head. He needed to get to Steve. He was probably fine, even if Hydra had him when Tony last saw him, the rest of the Avengers were there. They wouldn’t stand by and let Steve be taken. Tony tried to convince himself that this was true, but he could easily think of all the ways the Hydra agents could get away with Steve.


	15. Chapter 15

Tony paced in the room he was locked in. It had been hours since Loki dumped him in there. Tony thought he was probably out because he couldn’t hear anything even with his sensitive cat ears. He didn’t know what had happened to Steve or the rest of the team. Tony fiercely hoped that they didn’t get captured too. Tony imagined all sorts of scenarios involving his teammates getting captured, rescued, and escaping. Loki’s pillows bore the brunt of Tony’s frustration. He felt so useless. 

Tony was in the middle of mauling a pillow when someone jimmied the window open. He turned, wild-eyed and covered in feathers, to see Natasha silently slipping through the window. She stood there tense for a moment before whispering, “Tony?” Tony nodded with a soft meow, yup that was him. 

Natasha immediately grabbed Tony who struggled for a moment of panic, but quickly calmed down and cooperated. She zipped up her jacket and stuffed Tony inside, his head poking out. This was a position he would have adored in different circumstances. As it was, he was just trying not to fall out while Natasha made her way out of the window and down the face of the building. They were only a couple of stories up, so it wasn’t as scary as it could have been. 

They had walked a few blocks before Tony noticed they weren’t in fact heading back to the tower. There could be a lot of reasons for that, but he’d be damned if he didn’t hear them. So he wiggled around until he was facing Natasha and punctuated a tap on her chin with a meow. Once he had her (rather annoyed) attention he made a show of looking around and then tilting his head questioningly while meowing. 

“What do you want Stark?” She whispered with frustration. “I’m trying not to draw attention here.” She stopped talking to let a couple walk by. She smiled fondly while within their sights but continued glaring at Tony once they were past her. “It’s bad enough I have a cat in my jacket, I can’t be talking to it too.”

Once they were a block or so down a more empty street Natasha started whispering to him. “It was easier finding you than I expected. Once the smoke cleared Bruce used his readings on the curse from a few days ago to track your location. I thought I’d have to check every building in the area. I really cut down on time checking the one with angry cat noises first. What did those pillows do to you fuzzball?” 

Tony was a bit embarrassed to be caught like that, but he couldn’t regret it when he imagined the look on Loki’s face. Tony was glad he got away before he was caught up in that explosion. Tony has suffered through enough of Loki’s temper tantrums. 

Natasha sighed at Tony’s silence and continued, “Sam went after the quinjet they loaded Steve on to. Thor was going to go too, but we needed him to stay and clear out the enemies left behind. Most of them were still trying to get into the tower. We think they were after something in your labs. Any guesses as to what? …We can figure this out later.” She looked down at Tony and he looked up at her, she smiled a bit when his whiskers tickled her chin. 

Tony wasn’t used to seeing this kind of openness in Natasha. She was still alert, because they were escaping, but she was more chatty than usual. Normally she said her piece and let other people fill in the silences. Now she was even smiling at Tony.

Tony’s relationship with Natasha was one of wariness. Both of them had trust issues, and while they extended each other enough trust to work together, they both were on the lookout for separate agendas. Tony snuggled closer to her. They’d probably never break down that wall and trust each other completely, but it seemed like they were taking a step forward. Tony was trusting her with himself in a rather vulnerable state after all. 

Somehow in all this they had ended up in Greenwich Village. Tony tried asking again why they were in this part of town. This time he tried emphasizing his question by pointing to a street sign with his paw. Tony hoped this worked. It was never this hard to communicate with Steve in cat form. 

Natasha must have figured out what he was getting at because she said, “Clint managed to get in contact with Stephen Strange. He contacted us after the battle and told everyone to meet at Strange’s place on Bleecker St. Everyone agreed we need you back in action before we can help Sam rescue Steve. We’ve told him to just keep track of Steve for now.”

Tony felt horrible, he had assumed that everyone else was out rescuing Steve, but it turned out Tony was holding everyone back. Tony wasn’t sure he could cope with it if anything happened to Steve before they got him back. Tony knew himself well enough to predict that he’d go back to drinking. 

Tony was still agonizing over Steve when it suddenly got very foggy. This was very strange because until just then, it had been a fairly sunny late afternoon. Fog just doesn’t develop in that sort of weather. Natasha continued on. It wasn’t long before they spotted a three story brownstone through the mists. When they knocked on the door a bald Asian man wearing a mandarin jacket ushered them in.

Tony looked around the townhouse uneasily noticing that hallways and doors would appear and disappear when he looked away. Tony hated magic. They were led to a study where they found Bruce, Thor and Clint waiting. 

Tony had just enough time to jump out of Natasha’s jacket before the mysterious Doctor Strange came in. At least Tony thought it was him, his clothes were weird enough for him to be a self-proclaimed sorcerer, had awesome facial hair though. The man just looked Tony over and walked back out of the room while mumbling. The bald man from before, who had introduced himself as Wong, told them to stay there. 

Tony figured he should get comfortable. He ignored Clint’s delighted squeals as he jumped in his lap. Clint was trying to pet him, but Tony was so tense due to this further delay in rescuing Steve that he attacked Clint’s hand. Clint was halfheartedly wrestling his hand from Tony’s grip. He was trying to make a game of it, but clearly he was really worried too.

By the time Strange came back, Tony had abandoned Clint and climbed the bookcase. He had settled himself next to some trinkets. It was a sign of how exhausted the Avengers were that no one even tried to convince him not to. Well unless you include Bruce telling Tony, “I don’t think that’s a good idea”, but Tony thought he had given up way to quickly for it to really count. 

Strange didn’t seem happy to see him up there. He looked distinctly unamused when he asked Tony to stand in front of him. Strange announced, “This is a very complex curse, but I’ll do what I can to break it.” Thor looked doubtful, but he and the rest of the Avengers remained silent. 

Strange was just about to start his magic when Sam came in on the coms. Tony could hear him urgently say that he could see increased activity at the base where Hydra was keeping Steve.


	16. Chapter 16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not sure how this turned out, but here it is. There is only the epilogue after this.
> 
> On another note: Yay! 200+ kudos!

The nervous energy in the room crested as they waited for Falcon to give them an update on coms. Bruce, Clint and Thor were discussing going ahead to help Steve and Sam while Natasha was asking Sam to describe what kind of movements he was seeing. Doctor Strange had taken note of the team’s anxiety and had put lifting the curse on hold. 

Strange suddenly looked up and started muttering some mystic mumbo jumbo. His hands were faintly glowing has sweat beaded on his forehead. Strange collapsed crying, “Impossible!” just as Loki teleported into the study. 

Loki smirked as he tossed Steve on the floor. “There, as you can see Anthony, I have retrieved Captain America for you. Your team is fine.” Steve was unconscious, but didn’t appear to be seriously harmed either by Hydra or Loki. Loki grab Tony by the fur on the back of his neck, again, and said, “Now I’ll have words with you. All this trouble could have been avoided if you stayed where I put you.” Loki teleported away before Thor could gather his wits enough to say more than “Brother!” 

Loki took them back to his bedroom. He looked displeased to see his pillows shredded, but it wasn’t nearly was funny as Tony imagined when he was angry at Loki for locking Tony up. Loki sat down on the bed and placed Tony on his lap. Tony was tense as he looked for an opportunity to get away, but for the moment he stayed right where he was. “You are lucky I found you before that charlatan attempted to undo my magic. He would have not succeeded. At best you would have lost your mind.” Loki informed him.

Loki stayed silent for a moment before saying in measured tones, "One of the reasons I found was interested in you was because I saw myself in you. I thought you might understand me. Instead of approaching you with another’s shape, I wanted you to see me. For once in my life I really tried to show someone something true.” Loki’s voice was steadily growing tight with emotion as he said, “Thor once told me, ‘you are incapable of sincerity’. This is where my attempt at sincerity got us. I wanted something that went against my nature, it’s no wonder I ruined it. Once I realized this, I couldn't continue. I don't want to continue to try to force your affections away from another. I was wrong to think anyone could understand a monster. I should be used to being denied what I most desire, yet still I cursed and fought my fate. Well no more, I hereby lift this curse upon you.” Loki moved Tony off his lap to stand. He waved his hands and Tony was human again. Just to make sure, Tony pictured fireman Steve. Nothing happened. 

As much as he wanted to get back to everyone else, Tony felt there was something that needed to be addressed here. Tony sympathized with Loki more than he felt comfortable with. “I’m sorry I can’t be what you need. I may not love you, but that isn’t because you are a monster, you’re not. I don’t really understand you Asgardians, but I think you just need some time to work things out. Listen, I’m not really good at this emotional stuff, sincere isn’t really my M.O. either, but what you told me just now? That was sincerity, and it reached me.” Tony felt like he was really going to regret saying this, but he added, “If you need to talk, I’m willing to listen, anytime.”

Tony couldn’t see Loki’s face. He didn’t know if what he said got through to Loki at all. Tony was relieved when Loki said, “Thank you, Stark.” And the next thing Tony knew, he was standing naked in Greenwich Village. 


	17. Epilogue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Last one!  
> I think someday I might want to come back to this and polish it up, but for now this is it for me.  
> Thanks for reading until the end!  
> Please let me know what you thought of it!

Steve looked over at Tony who was grinning at his cards. Steve was sure both him and Bruce were counting cards without even thinking about it. After Tony’s curse had been lifted, Steve couldn’t help but look at Tony every chance he got. He had been really worried about Tony, he had been spending so much time as a cat and if he got stuck that way…Steve didn’t know what he would do. Steve was surprised and relieved to find out that Loki had saved him from Hydra and lifted Tony’s curse. 

Steve drew his eyes away from Tony to read the rest of the team. Bruce had already folded and was watching with a calm demeanor. Clint had a look of concentration on his face as he rearranged his cards and glanced around. Natasha had that innocent smile that she wears on her face when she doesn’t want you see her coming. Steve suspected both Natasha and Clint were using sleight of hand to cheat, but he couldn’t catch them at it. Clint grew up with Carnies who taught him every trick in the book, and Natasha probably learned during her training. Steve wasn’t really sure; he tried not to pry into her background and only knew what she shared. 

Steve knew a thing or two about cheating, when he was younger, he couldn’t afford to lose at poker. Steve has fond memories of sweeping the Howling Commandos, not that he did it often, he was a symbol of truth and justice after all. 

Thor was grinning merrily. Steve wasn’t really concerned about it. They explained the game to him, but Steve wasn’t actually sure Thor understood the rules. Every time they dealt out the cards he had that expression on his face. 

Five rounds later everyone was staring at Thor’s mountain of chips. No one could figure out how he did it. They couldn’t accuse him of cheating because that would give everyone else the opportunity to point out that they were cheating as well. Steve suggested that maybe they had played enough for the night. 

Steve finished cleaning up and sat down on the couch. He thought about that night two weeks ago when he had cried on Tony. Steve had a lot of conflicting feelings about that night. He felt bad for showing Tony something so shameful, but he had been so accepting that night that it warmed Steve’s heart. What happened later was even worse. Steve was shocked when Tony suddenly turned back. All that went through his head was that he hadn’t realized he was touching Tony so intimately. Then Tony started to fall and Steve had to hold him close to prevent him from hitting the floor. It took a disgraceful amount of time for Steve to get his act together and take Tony back to his room. He watched Tony sleep longer than he should have too. He just couldn’t stop thinking about Tony’s sleeping face.

Steve was still trying to work out his feelings when Tony sat next to him. After feeling the brush of Tony’s shoulder it all seemed so clear. Steve looked at Tony, he was perfect.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading this!
> 
> UPDATE: Caz was kind enough to draw kitty!Tony napping on Steve's lap for me! You can see it on tumblr here:
> 
>  
> 
> <http://cazdraws.tumblr.com/post/167507578686>


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